The NFL referee lockout is a complete disaster – something that’s obvious to everyone except (supposedly) the people keeping the referees locked out. Much ink has been spent on decrying the replacement referees and how they’re ruining football (never mind how they’re putting players’ safety at risk). Even unlikely supporters, missing the obvious irony in their sudden support for union workers, are taking to the virtual streets.

@GovWalker: After catching a few hours of sleep, the #Packers game is still just as painful. #Returntherealrefs

Paul Ryan: “You guys watch that Packer game...I mean give me a break! It is time to get the real refs"

What hasn’t gotten much attention is this lockout is symbolic of a much bigger issue: Training for a high performing workforce matters. But individual employers rarely have the incentive to invest in training—it’s hard to realize the return. That’s why the role of unions is so important: They work to make sure employees have the training and standards to realize their potential as committed workers, and they can do that on a large-scale, cost-efficient basis.

Regular referees are reliable because they’re highly trained professionals – a necessity to be a union referee. They’re a high-profile example of thousands of other professions whose work we rely on every day to get the job done and who are trained by their union. The labor movement is the largest workforce trainer of adults outside the U.S. military.Need examples?

Remember Captain Sully and ‘Miracle on the Hudson?’ He was a huge safety advocate through his union, serving as the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) representative during a National Transportation Safety Board investigation and as a Local Air Safety Chairman.

How about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center? The people who are thousands of feet in the air are union members as well as veterans. The Building and Construction Trades’ unions training program ‘Helmets to Hardhats’ works across the country to train veterans for high-skill construction projects including at the World Trade Center. http://bit.ly/MUlMLi

Ever see a construction worker hanging off a bridge while making essential repairs and wonder what it takes to do a job like that? Read more about the Ironworkers’ training program that’s part of a labor-management collaboration: http://bit.ly/KxVRwQ

The president of a Chicago-based construction company who works with union workers says this about his experience: “Here’s what [the union’s] training center means to me: We’re getting the highest caliber craftsmen in the business. It’s going toward productivity and attitude.” http://bit.ly/HLQNmT

Even Mitt Romney recognized the value of unions before he was against them. In 2002 after the Olympics, he had this to say about IBEW members: “We thought it was going to take three weekends with 20 people. Instead it took 20 weekends with several hundred people. And the work was done by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. They worked up there, they put on the snow shoes, they treaded up there to help us.” http://bit.ly/AeZI2W

Union members bring huge value to our communities and our lives every day. Scott Walker and others would do well to remember that the next time they treat union members – firefighters, teachers, autoworkers – differently than union referees who are cut from the same cloth.

Source: aflcio.org

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